One of the reasons why I've been so absent recently is that I've been working on a new website!

Due to various things going on at Etsy, which I will explain in a future post, I decided that it was time to wrap up Creative Classics and Creative History into one new website where I could have a blog, offer wholesale, and show off my eBook. It's taken a while to sort out as I needed to think up a new name, sort out the colour scheme, edit the photos and then build the whole site, but last week I launched it and now I'm in the process of uploading my products.

I'm really looking forward to all the advances I can make in the future with this new site. I've started to feel enthusiastic about it all again. It has been very hard work, and it will continue to be, but I'm much happier with it than I have been on Etsy for months now.

I'm going to be continuing with Etsy for the next few months, get Christmas out of the way, and then I'll be wrapping them up in the new year and continuing alone with The Bibliophile. Which should mean that this blog gets more active in the future :)

Recently I posted about my recent dealings with Etsy's Legal Team after I found a shop using my photos.

One of the main things I learned about it is that when you are upset it's very difficult to actually work out what you need to do to file a "DMCA Takedown Notice". I could barely read basic English let alone legal language, and so when I filed my first DMCA Takedown I got a polite email from Etsy telling me that I hadn't filled it in right and needed to reformat it and send it in again.

Once I had calmed down I went back to the link they provided me and did the whole thing step by step. There are 6 things you need to include in a Takedown and Etsy themselves told me it was best to use each point as "header" and post my information under each one, so that's exactly what I did.

To help others that might have the same issues I thought I would post a guide to filling out everything for Etsy. Hopefully if you're upset and not sure what to do then this will help you get through the legalese and file things promptly and with enough information for Etsy to deal with it quickly.

First of all a few points;
1. You can only fill in the DMCA Takedown Notice if YOU are the owner of the photos OR if you have been formally appointed by the owner (i.e. you're a lawyer working on behalf of "XYZ Plc"). You cannot just go through Etsy and file DMCAs on behalf of Disney or another company, even if the shop is breaking copyright law.
2. Don't use the email to swear or rant at Etsy's Legal Team. You're upset and that's normal, but no one wants to help someone who is being abusive and it's not fair on the staff member who gets your email.
3. Don't rush to the Etsy forums to name and shame the shop. It won't affect your dealings with the Legal team but will get you in trouble with the Forum staff and the last thing you want is to get a formal warning from the Admins.

So with those things in mind, let's take a look at Etsy's Copyright and Intellectual Property Policy. Point A on this website includes a numbered list for reporting violations. This is the "form" that Etsy requires you to fill in. Etsy told me to use each point as a header and put my information in underneath, probably because it makes it easier for them to read and see the issues.

A physical or electronic signature of a person authorized to act on
behalf of the owner of the copyright or intellectual property right that
has been allegedly infringed upon (by fax or regular mail – not by
email, except by prior agreement);

First of all if you are residing abroad email the Etsy Legal Team, explain that you are overseas and don't want to wait weeks while your signature travels by airmail, and would like to request permission to use an electronic signature. An electronic signature is basically your full legal name typed out. If you have 12 middle names, then it will be a long electronic signature. Once you get permission for this then you can fill out the rest of this form.

Identification in sufficient detail of the material being infringed
upon (for an allegation of a patent infringement, please provide a
patent number);

This means they want to see YOUR photos, preferably in the form of your shop listing links. If you have found multiple violations in one shop then make a numbered list for your items. I actually started it off with "These photos were taken from my shop - "URL"" and put in my shop link. Then because multiple photos had been taken and grouped together I listed each link under a "Photo Group #" sub-heading that corresponded to the listing I linked in the next section.

For example;

Photo Group 1
URL #1
URL #2
URL #3
URL #4

Photo Group 2
URL #1
URL #1
URL #1
URL #1

And so on and so forth. If your items haven't been grouped into multiple photos then just list them as "Photo #1 - URL" "Photo #2 - URL" etc etc.

Identification of the material that is claimed to be infringing upon
the intellectual property. Include information regarding the location
of the infringing material with sufficient detail so that Etsy is
capable of finding and verifying its existence (for listings, please
provide item numbers);

This means they want to see where in the other shop your photos are being used. Again I included a link to the shop in general, and then put a list of the listings that used my stolen photos, in the order of the group I put in the above section.

Because multiple photos of mine had been taken and grouped together my photos list was a lot longer than the offending shop's one. If you've had 10 photos taken then when you've filled out this section just double check that you have got 10 unique listings URLs in this section and make sure you haven't copied anything twice, otherwise you may find you have to file a second notice for anything you accidentally missed.

Contact information about the notifier including the name of the
intellectual property owner, the name and title of the person contacting
Etsy on the owner's behalf, the address, telephone number and, if
available, e-mail address;

Once you get to this part you are on the home stretch! Because I was the owner and contacting Etsy I started this part by saying that I was the intellectual property owner and was representing myself. I then filled out my full legal name (again, just in case), my address (including country as I'm in the UK) and my phone number and in my case 2 emails as I was contacted Etsy via my personal account, but my shop is registered under another one (I have 3 shops and Etsy requires them to be registered under different emails).

A statement that the notifier has a good faith belief that the
material is not authorized by the intellectual property or copyright
owner, its agent, or the law; and

Here I stated again that I was the owner of the photographs and that I knew for certain that I had not given any permission or authorisation for them to be used by the other seller, or any seller at all.

A statement made under penalty of perjury that the information
provided is accurate and the notifying party is authorized to make the
complaint on behalf of the intellectual property or copyright owner.

Finally here I stated (I actually used the phrase "I swear on penality of perjury") that everything I had put in this email was true and accurate and I confirmed again that I was the owner of the photographs and that I was representing myself.

It looks scary and complicated but I promise you it isn't. It requires you to be thorough, and it means you have to go through the offending shop with a fine toothcomb to make sure you haven't missed anything. If you have multiple shops using your photos then file separate forms for each shop, it makes it easy for Etsy to check and deal with.

Overall I hope this proves to be useful to someone. Etsy's Legal Team were polite and helpful when they contacted me, and they were very prompt at dealing with the problem.

I had a bloody great shock on Etsy recently. While testing out my tags in an attempt to get this damned SEO thing nailed on the head I spotted a set of my product photos, for a listing in a shop that wasn't mine.

I don't want to put too fine a point on it, but I felt like I had just been punched in the chest. I just sat there, not moving, not even breathing, staring at this photo set and WILLING the shop name underneath to change to mine. I really couldn't believe that someone would steal my photos, I assumed it must be a joke, a twisted one, but a joke nonetheless.

When I finally regained the power to move my hands (and remembered to breathe) I clicked on the shop and had a closer look. This wasn't just a one off, this person had taken multiple photos of mine and combined them into several listings in their shop.

This was the point when the tears started to threaten. It was almost as if someone had stolen a child from me and then posted photos of them on Facebook with a new name. To say I was relieved when I checked this shops sales and found they hadn't sold any of those items would be an understatement. I then checked their Facebook and Twitter pages (both were linked to the shop) and found that they had posted links to their stolen-image listings. The Facebook one was the worst, they had several likes, from people who genuinely believed that they were great items and the shop owner was brilliant for coming up with such an idea. Except it wasn't me or my shop getting the credit.

But I didn't cry. I felt hurt, but it was soon replaced with anger. Actually anger would be an understatement, I was bloody furious. Since my housemates weren't in and there was no one to disturb I indulged in a few loud curses and phrases that turned the air blue for a few seconds. I was determined that I was going to destroy this other shop completely. I was going to go on Twitter and denounce them, post on their Facebook showing that they were a thieving little sod, rage on Tumblr, bellow on Pinterest and find their address so I could get a damned lawyer involved.

Then sadness came rushing back in because I can't afford a lawyer and I was suddenly very worried that if I contacted this shop and pointed put the wrong then they would simply brush it off and accuse ME of being the thief. This person has far more Facebook likes and more Twitter followers than me, not to mention more sales and therefore more positive feedback. I've been on the internet since dial-up, I've seen people get ripped apart on DeviantArt when I've known them to be in the right, I've had to moderate a few disputes when I volunteered on a large forum. The person with the biggest following wins, hands down.

So instead I filed a DMCA with Etsy's Legal team. Actually I had to file it twice as I didn't do it right the first time but they explained the best way to fill it out properly and I took their advice and got it sorted. I sent them links to this other shop and their listings, and included links to my shop and my listings where the photos had been taken from. I explained that I hadn't given any permission to this person to use my photos and wanted the listings taken down, and then offered to provide any more evidence if it was needed.

I had to sit back and wait. I have very little patience at the best of times, but this was agonising. I had to go back to this shop at least once a day to make sure they hadn't sold any of these listings.

Luckily Etsy's Legal Team dealt with it within 48 hours, a remarkable turnaround given all the complaints I hear about Etsy. Maybe it was because I had plenty of evidence, or maybe they were having a slow week and so there wasn't much in the queue in front of me. Either way I got an email back from them informing me that things had been dealt with. I then also got an apology from the shop owner. Things have been dealt with to my satisfaction, and dealt with very promptly.

The thing is, I know this happens. I just never thought of my products being possible victims for it. I'll be the first to admit my photos are a bit rubbish, I don't have a lightbox, I live in a flat that doesn't get much light, I only have a basic understanding of how to use the DSLR my Dad gave me, and me and Photoshop have an awkward relationship. Not only that, my items are unique. Seriously, it's a small market, no one sells anything like this. Of course I would spot someone using my photos, so I assumed it wouldn't happen to me.

I have gone to lengths to not to say who this was, or even identify which of my shops was involved. I could have ranted, I could have screamed, I could have accused them on Facebook and possibly ruined their reputation to a few of their customers. But I'm happier for having kept it between just me, them and Etsy. To be fair Etsy did encourage me to contact the seller myself, but I was too angry and upset for that. I can only assume it was a silly mistake on behalf of the shop owner, there's no point in me naming and shaming anywhere.

One thing that has come out of this is that I will be writing a post on how to contact Etsy with a DMCA. The language they use is legal and therefore complicated and when you're angry and upset and on the verge of tears it is almost impossible to understand it. I hope no one following me ever has a need to use it, but hopefully it will be useful for someone who is going through the same experience I did. It should be up next week.

Those who have been following my blog for a while may remember my previous posts about the MND Association and the bits of fundraising I do for them on occasion. There's currently a viral trend of "no make-up" photos for Cancer Research. I don't wear make-up anyway, but at the same as it was going on the MNDA were running their own campaign, High Five for MND.

Text "MND Five" to 70004 and you'll donate £5 to the fight against Motor Neurone Disease, which is a horrible disease and when we say "high five" what we mean is "smack it in the face repeatedly until it's defeated".

To spread the word people were taking photos of their hands with the information and a slogan on and then Tweeting or Facebooking them. I did both, and I thought I should blog about it too.

What's this? Two posts in two days? Can you all really be that lucky!?

This is primarily because I've had the afternoon off work and realised I need to do something more productive than lounging around my room.

A few weeks ago I announced the launch of my ebook 30 Women in History. If you haven't checked it out yet then you really should, I've had a lot of positive feedback from people, which is hopefully going to translate into feedback left on Amazon.

There are two fellow ebook authors who have been waving flags in my corner for the past few weeks, and therefore I figured I'd wave my flag for them in return.

The first one is Erin Lawless, who can be found on Twitter under @rinylou as well as on Wordpress. I went to university with Erin and therefore follow her on Facebook. After she launched two self-published ebooks (one collection of short stories, the other her debut novel) she was signed up by the publisher Harper Impulse. Her book is called The Best Thing I Never Had and is available on the Kindle and from April 2014 it will be available in paperback so you can preorder it before the Easter holiday! Plus if you buy it on Kindle and email Erin with the receipt, she'll enter you in to a lovely giveaway she's holding.

The second author is Stephanie Carroll. I didn't go to university with Stephanie, in fact I met her entirely by chance after she put out a Twitter appeal for Women's History Month (her Twitter can be found under @CarrollBooks). She has her own website where she posts up interviews, hosts giveaways and discusses her work. Stephanie's book is set in the Victorian era and is called "A White Room" and is available on the Kindle and in paperback.

So if you need more things to read over Easter, then you've now got three new Kindle books to read :D

A few months ago I started writing a bunch of small biographies about various women in history. This was primarily inspired by my Mum asking me to explain a few things about Catherine of Valois. She didn't want to read a large book with huge amounts of historical context, she just wanted the interesting bits.

Since then it's grown quite a bit, I now have a long list of women to write about. So with that in mind I decided to turn it into a series which I have "creatively" labelled "30 Women in History".

Yesterday, after spending several days wrestling with ebook formatting, I finally uploaded it to Amazon and this morning it went live!

You can find it on Amazon.com or Amazon UK as well as Australia, Canada and Europe! It's affordable, and designed for each chapter to be fairly short so you can pick it up and put it down when you need to.

I'm already working on Volume 2, not sure when it will be out but it will definitely be this year!

2013 proved to be a good year, I launched Creative History, got more sales for Creative Classics, and started dating a lovely bloke :) Me and the gentlemen visited quite a few places over the year, including Canterbury, bits of London such as the Chelsea Physic Garden and galleries including The National Gallery. I also, before we started dating, visited Wesminster Abbey and the Foundling Museum, both of which were very interesting.

Looking back on it I think I've seen more of London this year than any other year. Now I need to sit down and find some more places for us to go to once the weather clears up!

2013 has also been a good year for my shops, to the point where I thought I'd put it in numbers.

The Bibliophile - A grand total of 3883 views for the year. I really do feel guilty about neglecting this shop. It also had 224 favourites, 50 shop favourites and 174 listing favourites. The most viewed item was a book called "Wild Wales", which went to a good home in November. Overall this shop has held it's own during the year despite my neglect, I need to pay more attention to it during this year.

Creative Classics - This year was a whopping 10910 views!!! So close to 11000, but never mind, that's a target for next year. I had 511 favourites, 79 shop favourites and 432 listing favourites. The most viewed item was one of the postcards, although the most favourited was the Archaeology Geek badge listing. My aim for this year was to average 2 orders a month, which I've reached and gone past, but I've not quite hit an average of 3 orders a month. I also aimed to get have 100 listings in this shop, again a target that I reached! This year I'm aiming to expand on the groundwork I built up this year, and have a day at Camden Market with my badges to see how they sell offline.

Creative History - My newest shop, it's only been open a few months but I thought I'd include it anyway. It's creeped in under the 1k mark with 872 views, but it has had 106 favourites of which 23 were for the shop and 83 were for the listings. The most viewed item was my Team Richard III badge while the most favourited was Team Anne Boleyn. It's already had some sales, which I'm very happy with, so for the new year I need to work on expanding the number of listings and start properly writing down my ideas for development.

In terms of this blog I aimed to do 365 days of blog posts, and failed. For the time being I'm going to keep up my current schedule of updating as and when I have the inspiration, rather than continuously forcing myself to write when I'm really struggling. It just doesn't work.

I'm also currently working on a side project, which I'm keeping under my hat for the moment but should be out in the open in a few months :) This year I want to continue working on my shops, and continue to spend time with my Gentleman Caller.